I can't think of a better deserving team than the COVID team that took the initiative to work through the recommendations of the CDC, receiving information from the command center, multiple COVID briefings, and researched what their peers and associations were doing to respond to this new unknown virus. This team took the information to the frontline team, helped them process the changes, calming fears, answering numerous questions, and providing education (quickly I may add) to the team.
There are many situations and scenarios that have played out over the past several months. A few that come to mind are Chris and Billy who were managing the COVID unit and working with Scott Bond and the ED team determining intubation guidelines and protocols, COVID order sets, transport routes from the ED to the COVID unit to name a few. Billy took the initiative and worked with the team on COVID intubation drills to prepare the staff.
In addition, Lauren was busy working with vendors to secure testing capabilities to improve turnaround time for COVID testing and assisting the team with testing criteria and guidelines.
Carol, our fearless Infection Control Manager, has been the resource for us all to provide guidance on the latest CDC info to support evidence-based practice in all of the decisions we make as a team.
Fred who has led his team to provide spray down of the units, and worked with his staff through their fears of this new virus. We appreciate all of our housekeepers and how hard they work to keep us all safe.
Jean who has worked in the COVID unit supporting our patients hit so hard with this disease that causes significant weakness.
Amelia and Casey have been the clinical staff leads of the dedicated COVID units. They have provided guidance, leadership, and education to the team.
I appreciate Chris' tireless efforts over the past several months to provide oversight of the COVID units. He continues to work with physicians, peers, and staff to ensure that our patients receive the very best care and that the staff are supported. Chris enjoys celebrating the milestones of our patients in the COVID unit who get off the ventilator and are discharged home. He will even come in on the weekend to organize and celebrate in reaching this important milestone.
I have quickly given you some brief examples of the teamwork and collaboration that has occurred over the past 5 months. But the most important highlight is how this collaboration has affected patient care outcomes. It was exciting to see one of our patients diagnosed with COVID-19 who had been on the ventilator for 20 days and spent a total of 57 days with us, return home with his family. He left smiling and said, "I love you guys!" "Thank you for everything you've done for me. It looked like this day would never get here, but it did, thanks to the good Lord and a lot of prayers" His family said the care that he received was "Exceptional" and "Everyone was so nice and so caring".
Lastly, in addition to the 2020 DAISY COVID Team Award Recipients as just mentioned, I want to also give thanks to the following: all of our physicians, Dr. Lavelle and Dr. Jiang, the Hospitalist team, Intensivists, Surgeons, Obstetricians, Vascular team, Cardiologists, Anesthesia, and our CMO Dr. Janzow who are integral to the entire team and organization.
I also want to thank the COVID command center leadership team. Some I have already mentioned, but want to include Jennifer Hamilton-Gilpin, Jennifer Deschenes, Lance West, Lori Merritt, and Alicia Poulin, Keith May, and the Executive Team. Dr. Maria Sudak, DHA was instrumental in the start-up of the Command Center, laying the foundation and structure of our COVID team, answering numerous questions and calls, and a significant resource to us all. I also want to thank Diane Brock and Melissa who have worked to provide a serenity room for our staff to step away and relax for a moment and other treats to support our staff and for putting this DAISY event together today. We really appreciate the entire team's expertise and contribution during these unprecedented times.